Idec on boxing: Manny Pacquiao vows a killer instinct

Manny Pacquiao, left, and Timothy Bradley will fight their rematch April 12.

NEW YORK — Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley don’t agree on who won their first fight.

Pacquiao, like the vast majority of those who watched it, believes he beat Bradley quite convincingly in their 12-round WBO welterweight title fight in June 2012. The Filipino superstar agrees, though, with Bradley’s assessment that he has lost some of the killer instinct that made Pacquiao one of the most fearless, ferocious fighters in boxing history.

Pacquiao, 35, realizes he must be much more aggressive against Bradley during their April 12 rematch at MGM Grand in Las Vegas if he is to leave the ring a winner this time. As suspect as Bradley’s split decision was, Pacquiao has accepted partial responsibility for not making more emphatic statements that night to the judges.

"What Bradley’s saying to me is, the killer instinct and aggressiveness, I don’t have that anymore," Pacquiao said Thursday during a news conference in Manhattan to promote their HBO Pay-Per-View fight. "So that’s what I’m trying to prove in this fight April 12.

"I think he’s right. Maybe I’m just too kind and nice to my opponent sometimes in the ring. Sometimes you cannot see the aggressiveness and the killer instinct [in me]. But this time around, I have to get it back and show that I still have aggressiveness and killer instinct."

Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs, 1 NC) opened as a 9-1 underdog before their first fight, but their careers have headed in very different directions over the past year and a half. Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KOs) is a very slight favorite as their rematch approaches.

Bradley was unfairly ostracized because two incompetent judges suspiciously scored him the winner against Pacquiao, yet strengthened his reputation in his next two fights.

The Palm Springs, Calif., native overcame severe trouble in four separate rounds against Russia’s Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KOs) last March 16, and won a unanimous decision in an epic encounter that was chosen 2013’s Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine. Bradley was even more impressive in his next fight, when he outboxed Marquez on his way to a 12-round, split decision Oct. 12 in Las Vegas.

"I’m in a different position now than I was the first time I faced Manny Pacquiao," Bradley, 30, said. "I’m a lot more relaxed, a lot more poised now. I can’t wait. Oh, I can’t wait. Manny said he’s going to be the aggressive, destructive Manny Pacquiao of old times. I get excited because I embrace the challenge. I love challenges and I love when people say that I can’t do something, because I love to prove them all wrong, like I’ve been doing my whole career."

Pacquiao might have more doubters now than Bradley. He hasn’t won by knockout since he stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round of their November 2009 fight in Las Vegas.

"He’s not making nearly as much money as he has in the past, and his pay-per-view numbers have dropped drastically," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer. "He wants to be back on top again. The way to be back on top again is to start knocking people out and be impressive. It’s not enough just to win fights."